Personal Post #6: Internship Madness: Frustration to Gratification

What happens when you throw an American teacher wannabe into an internship teaching English at a Spanish colegio (school)? You get a first reaction like this:

This internship has been quite the experience so far. Before I start, I just want to make it clear that I actually love the internship (I get to that about halfway through), it's just thrown me for a loop (or maybe like 32,094 loops), which I'm going to explain here:

It all started off being a hot mess because I literally had no clue where I was supposed to go, what I was supposed to do, I didn't know who any of the teachers were, and there was a lack in communication.  First of all, I couldn't go to the orientation meeting because I had class, and my supervisor never responded to me with another time where she could explain to me what was covered during orientation. So basically, I was tossed into the deep end without any floaties, and it was terrifying (and very confusing).

At the beginning, I was really confused as to when and where I needed to show up. You see, I thought she was going to send us an email each day with when we have a class with another teacher until we got our definitive schedule, because at the beginning that's what she did. But then, after (unknowingly) missing a couple of days (because I didn't receive an email saying when or where to go), and after showing up after she finally did email me when and where I was supposed to go, AND after answering the question ¿Por qué no viniste ayer o viernes? (Why didn't you come yesterday or Friday?), I finally learned that I was actually supposed to show up when I told her I was available. That seemed strange to me because I thought the schedule I gave her was just for her to use while planning out our official schedules, not me essentially telling her when I was coming in for the week.

Another thing that was confusing was where I was supposed to go. Apparently, the first few days, I was supposed to wait by the stairs for the teachers to come show me to their rooms, but I missed that memo as well (which was actually in an email my supervisor sent out, but since I didn't go to that orientation, I had no clue what she was actually referring to). So basically I was wandering around the halls of the school looking really lost when I didn't need to be. Luckily, I stood out like a sore thumb there because I'm obviously not a student because the students wear uniforms, and I'm obviously not a teacher or they'd recognize me, so when teachers or students saw me walking around looking like this...

...they were quick to show me where I needed to go. Really, they were súper nice about everything!

Oh, but the most frustrating thing about the internship so far is getting the fact through to my supervisor that I need to get 120 hours this semester so I can receive credit back at Sweet Briar. There were some definite communication problems happening -- my supervisor literally never responded to any of my emails. I tried to talk to her about this before the internship even started, but I got no response. I also sent her at least two emails in response to ones that she had sent out to everyone about scheduling that reminded her that I needed 120 hours this semester, but I obviously wasn't very successful at getting my point across, because when I received my definitive schedule on Tuesday, it only had 10 hours a week on it. I was pretty upset because that's not enough for me to finish the internship this semester, and I know she knew that I needed more hours. I was pretty frustrated, so I sent an email to the JYS internship coordinator letting her know what's up, and I think after taking that route, it got the message across to my supervisor that I'm serious and that I need to get this stuff done. She's found me two extra hours a week, and she's working on getting me a third. At this point, I honestly think the internship is going to bleed over into my winter break in order for me to get everything finished "this" semester because I am still an hour short each week, and I don't know if it'll get solved in time...

#disappointment

Oh well...also, I know I'm going to be here the whole year, so really it's not the end of the world if I don't finish THIS semester, but I want to be done with this internship by the end of this semester. I have a ton of requirements and things to do for this internship so I can get credit for doing it, and I don't want to be bothered with that stuff all year long, and plus, I would like to be able to do something different next semester! Maybe I will still want to go to the school a few hours a week (because really, it is so much fun and I love the students!), but I don't want it to be like a thing that I *have* to do (okay obviously I know that if I have an internship I *have* to do it, but I really mean I just don't want to have to worry about my requirements listed on my internship syllabus to receive credit -- like if I'm going to do this next semester, I want it to be purely for fun). Ehhh...but deep down I know I'll live, and I know in the end it will definitely all work out and I'll get my credit, and that's all that truly matters!

Also, things in school are done so differently from how we do things in American schools -- this wasn't frustrating, but it definitely gave me some culture shock! I don't have to sign in when I get in the school. I just waltz in, wave to the guy at the información desk, and go up to my class. The teachers move around from class to class instead of the students. All the classrooms are laid out the same. They don't eat any meals at the school (except a snack during descanso). Descanso = a school wide recess where even teachers are free to leave school grounds and grab a cup of coffee. I'm not really sure if there are anything like SOLs, but I'm anxious to find out about that stuff. All the grades are in one school. Teachers are called by their first name. Classroom management is not a big thing here -- these are some rowdy classes, and the teachers don't seem to mind as much! They just talk over kids who are talking over them! There's so much more I could write about the differences...but this post is already long, so I'll leave that for my internship journal.

But really, let me talk about the positive aspects of this internship now that almost everything is way better than it was at the beginning:

1. The students are amazing. They're just like American students, except they're far more energetic, crazy, and hilarious (which was hard to believe at first). At the same time, though, they're really well-behaved (I didn't think it was possible to have students who can be hooligans AND be well-behaved almost at the same time). They're also PUMPED to have an American in the classroom with them, and I can really tell that they want to talk to me and have me teach. Speaking of teaching, I feel like the student-teacher relationship here is a lot more positive and relaxed. Here, the students call their teachers by their first name. Everything just seems more casual, but there's still a level of respect. Also, physical touch isn't a gateway to being fired. Hugs and besitos (kisses) are super common. Yep, that's right, hugging and kissing students is completely normal here. You should have seen my face when one of the teachers I was observing received a drawing from one of her students, and the teacher proceeded to give her a giant kiss on the cheek followed by a hug. I literally looked just like this cat:

2. I was assigned to the world's best mentor teacher. She is extremely organized. She always has lesson plans, she has some seriously good classroom management skills (which is so important here because the classes are huge!), and she still manages to make her lessons interesting. Also, she emails me what her classes are doing before I come in, and she sends me stuff to read that her students are reading so I will be prepared to help her teach. I seriously couldn't ask for a better mentor teacher. I'm so glad I get to work with her 3 times a week!

3. Speaking of teachers, I really am working with some wonderful teachers. There's my mentor teacher, but I'm working with 5 other teachers as well. I'm really excited to get to know them and to work with them this semester. I really feel like I can learn a lot from each one of them!

4. This is the perfect experience for me to see if I really want to be an ESL teacher someday. I've always kinda thought about being an ESL teacher in the back of my mind, and now I'm doing just that. I'm really excited to try it out so I can "officially" see if this is something I'd be interested in pursuing in the future. So far, I really enjoy it!

5. I'm getting the opportunity to work with several different grade levels all in one week. I really really really value that aspect of this internship, because my teaching license is going to be a K-12 license, so this is SUCH good experience for me! I think I've worked with every single grade level now (not only at this school -- I mean in total of all the schools I've been in since starting my education classes freshman year), and that's really awesome for me to be able to say and put on my resume!

6. Here's the opening sentence in my internship journal entry for today:

Seriously. I don't have classes at the University on Fridays, so my entire day is dedicated to el colegio. I'm there from 9am (when primaria -- lower grades -- starts) till 2:10 (when primaria ends) -- a full (by Spanish standards) school day! The upper grade levels start at 8am, but there aren't any English classes offered at 8am on Fridays. But really, I don't even know why I love going to the school so much, but it's probably one of my most favorite things to do here! Teaching kids English is seriously one of the most fun things I've done, and I'm so lucky and thankful to have this opportunity, and I definitely feel excited for the rest of this semester!